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G.I. fight back! : the newspaper of the Movement for a Democratic Military (M.D.M.) and the Drydock G.I. Rights and Info Center

NAVY WIVES JOIN THE FIGHT I
,3)
20c donation
VOL. 2 NO. 4 AUG-SEPT.
O.O.D. DIRECTIVE 1325A: THIS IS YOUR PERSONAL PROPERTY AND CANNOT LEGALLY BE TAKEN FROM YOU.
THE NEWSPAPER OF THE MOVEMENT FOR A DEMOCRATIC MILITARY (M.D.M. ) AND THE DRYDOCK G.I. RIGHTS
AND INFO CENTER, 701 W. BROADWAY LONG BEACH, CA. PHONE 4-37-9767 HOURS 6-9pro/MON. TUES. and WED.
LB. Gl. RESISTS DISLOYALITY CHARGE;
BRASS
BACKS
DOWN
LAST MONTH ONE OF THE AC
TIVE DUTY MEMBERS OF OUR
GROUP WAS CHARGED WITH PRO
MOTING "DISLOYALTY AND DISAFFECTION AMONG THE TROOPS'
FOLLOWING A SMALL DEMONSTRATION WE HELD IN FRONT OF
THE MAIN GATE.
MDM demonstration at Gate 1.
The fact that Mike was off-duty,
off-base, and out of uniform apparently didn't phase these base legal
wizards because they persisted in
filing a formal charge.
Let's go back to the demonstration and run that down so you can
more clearly see what came down.
July 1st, MDM, Movement for a
Democratic Military along with several friends and some people from
Vietnam Veterans Against the War/
Winter Soldier Organization, held a
small demonstration in front of the
main gate at the Long Beach Naval
Base. The action was in response
to a "change of command" hoop-tee-
doo taking place that morning on base.
There were two reasons for the demonstration: first, we wanted to have
a little ceremony of sorts of our own
(peoples' style) as an alternative to
the petty brass gig, and to show the
hundreds of people driving by that
the Navy was not sliding by "slicker
than shit" the way they would like
everyone to believe. Second, we
wanted to raise a few of the demands
we are developing, with your help
(see centerfold), and check out the
responses to the special leaflet we
handed out which read. . .
— Change the Commander-in-
Chief, Dump Nixon!
--Change the military practice of
buying scab products such as
non-union lettuce, grapes, and
Gallo wine. Support the Farmworkers
--Keep SP's out of our lives
--Stop brutal brig treatment. We
demand a full congressional
investigation into the numer
ous reports of unprovoked attacks by Marine guards on
our brothers.
--Change the system, not just its
commanders.
Many people smiled and gave us
the clenched fist salute in solidarity as they drove by--which showed
that the people recognized that our
demands were based on exposing
the real conditions that the Navy
would like to cover up.
The following day, Mike was called in and questioned about his involvement in the demonstration. The
next morning he was confronted with
a report chit charging him with violation of UCMJ Art. 134, "Conduct
of a nature to bring discredit upon
the Armed Forces."
By the brutal brig conditions,
buying scab products, denial of
basic rights, and so on-, the Navy
brings discredit to itself, and not
because we point "out the facts.
A week later, after many attempts
to get a copy of the report chit and
all of the statements made against
him, Mike was told that the base
legal officer rewrote the charge to
read:
"Violation UCMJ ARTICLE 134
In that (Mike) did at Naval Support
Activity, Long Beach, Ca. , on or
about 0800, 1, July, 1974 with design
to promote disloyalty and disaffection among the troops and to impair
the loyalty, morale and discipline
of the members of the Armed Force
of the United States, utter by public
display of signs to wit, "Get the SP
out of our lives," "Fight Back,FTN,
Stop Random Searches," "Stop brutality in the brigs," "Stop beating
our brothers, " "Down with Nixon, "
or words to that effect, which sta-
GI FIGHT BACK PHOTO
tements were disloyal to the U.S."
Mike was told to report to a pre
mast interview July 11th. The interview never took place because the
Base legal office claimed it was still
investigating the case. They should
have been "investigating" the U.S.
Constitution.
Meanwhile, Mike prepared a letter of redress which he delivered to
the Base CO. The letter stated, in«
part, "I feel this action against me
constitutes a breach of my civil and
Constitutional rights, to wit, my rt.
to free speech and to peaceably assemble under the Bill of Rights, 1 st
Amendment. This right is further
documented in DOD Directive 1325.6
section 3, parts A and F. I feel also
that this charge is false in that it is
being used merely to intimidate me.
"I demand therefore, as adequate
redress, that this charged be dropped
for the reasons stated above... I am
filing this redress under my rights
guaranteed in the UCMJ, Art. 138."
Obviously, the Base legal dep't
needed a little education on its own
UCMJ.
Mike, his wife, and another member of MDM then met with civilian
lawyers through the military law panel in Los Angeles. A few days later,
all charges we.re dropped.
The fact that the Navy clearly had
no basis for these absurd charges from
the beginning leads to only one possible motive behind such legalistic
fumblings. This motive stems from
the facist-like mentality of the U.S.
Military, and is reflected by a blatant disregard for often the most
damental human and Constitutional
rights.
(continued on back page)
MIDWAY SAILERS JUMP SHIP
SEE STORY P.6

G.I. fight back! : the newspaper of the Movement for a Democratic Military (M.D.M.) and the Drydock G.I. Rights and Info Center

Place of publication

Long Beach, California

Publisher

Movement for a Democratic Military

Publication date

1974-1976

Language

English

Country

United States

State

California

Digital Format

XML

Publisher-Electronic

Wisconsin Historical Society

Publication Date-Electronic

2015

Rights

Copyright belongs to the individuals who created them or the organizations for which they worked. We share them here strictly for non-profit educational purposes. If you believe that you possess copyright to material included here, please contact us at asklibrary@wisconsinhistory.org. Under the fair use provisions of the U.S. copyright law, teachers and students are free to reproduce any document for nonprofit classroom use. Commercial use of copyright-protected material is generally prohibited.

Copyright belongs to the individuals who created them or the organizations for which they worked. We share them here strictly for non-profit educational purposes. If you believe that you possess copyright to material included here, please contact us at asklibrary@wisconsinhistory.org. Under the fair use provisions of the U.S. copyright law, teachers and students are free to reproduce any document for nonprofit classroom use. Commercial use of copyright-protected material is generally prohibited.

Owner

GI Press Project/Private Collection

Full text

NAVY WIVES JOIN THE FIGHT I
,3)
20c donation
VOL. 2 NO. 4 AUG-SEPT.
O.O.D. DIRECTIVE 1325A: THIS IS YOUR PERSONAL PROPERTY AND CANNOT LEGALLY BE TAKEN FROM YOU.
THE NEWSPAPER OF THE MOVEMENT FOR A DEMOCRATIC MILITARY (M.D.M. ) AND THE DRYDOCK G.I. RIGHTS
AND INFO CENTER, 701 W. BROADWAY LONG BEACH, CA. PHONE 4-37-9767 HOURS 6-9pro/MON. TUES. and WED.
LB. Gl. RESISTS DISLOYALITY CHARGE;
BRASS
BACKS
DOWN
LAST MONTH ONE OF THE AC
TIVE DUTY MEMBERS OF OUR
GROUP WAS CHARGED WITH PRO
MOTING "DISLOYALTY AND DISAFFECTION AMONG THE TROOPS'
FOLLOWING A SMALL DEMONSTRATION WE HELD IN FRONT OF
THE MAIN GATE.
MDM demonstration at Gate 1.
The fact that Mike was off-duty,
off-base, and out of uniform apparently didn't phase these base legal
wizards because they persisted in
filing a formal charge.
Let's go back to the demonstration and run that down so you can
more clearly see what came down.
July 1st, MDM, Movement for a
Democratic Military along with several friends and some people from
Vietnam Veterans Against the War/
Winter Soldier Organization, held a
small demonstration in front of the
main gate at the Long Beach Naval
Base. The action was in response
to a "change of command" hoop-tee-
doo taking place that morning on base.
There were two reasons for the demonstration: first, we wanted to have
a little ceremony of sorts of our own
(peoples' style) as an alternative to
the petty brass gig, and to show the
hundreds of people driving by that
the Navy was not sliding by "slicker
than shit" the way they would like
everyone to believe. Second, we
wanted to raise a few of the demands
we are developing, with your help
(see centerfold), and check out the
responses to the special leaflet we
handed out which read. . .
— Change the Commander-in-
Chief, Dump Nixon!
--Change the military practice of
buying scab products such as
non-union lettuce, grapes, and
Gallo wine. Support the Farmworkers
--Keep SP's out of our lives
--Stop brutal brig treatment. We
demand a full congressional
investigation into the numer
ous reports of unprovoked attacks by Marine guards on
our brothers.
--Change the system, not just its
commanders.
Many people smiled and gave us
the clenched fist salute in solidarity as they drove by--which showed
that the people recognized that our
demands were based on exposing
the real conditions that the Navy
would like to cover up.
The following day, Mike was called in and questioned about his involvement in the demonstration. The
next morning he was confronted with
a report chit charging him with violation of UCMJ Art. 134, "Conduct
of a nature to bring discredit upon
the Armed Forces."
By the brutal brig conditions,
buying scab products, denial of
basic rights, and so on-, the Navy
brings discredit to itself, and not
because we point "out the facts.
A week later, after many attempts
to get a copy of the report chit and
all of the statements made against
him, Mike was told that the base
legal officer rewrote the charge to
read:
"Violation UCMJ ARTICLE 134
In that (Mike) did at Naval Support
Activity, Long Beach, Ca. , on or
about 0800, 1, July, 1974 with design
to promote disloyalty and disaffection among the troops and to impair
the loyalty, morale and discipline
of the members of the Armed Force
of the United States, utter by public
display of signs to wit, "Get the SP
out of our lives" "Fight Back,FTN,
Stop Random Searches" "Stop brutality in the brigs" "Stop beating
our brothers, " "Down with Nixon, "
or words to that effect, which sta-
GI FIGHT BACK PHOTO
tements were disloyal to the U.S."
Mike was told to report to a pre
mast interview July 11th. The interview never took place because the
Base legal office claimed it was still
investigating the case. They should
have been "investigating" the U.S.
Constitution.
Meanwhile, Mike prepared a letter of redress which he delivered to
the Base CO. The letter stated, in«
part, "I feel this action against me
constitutes a breach of my civil and
Constitutional rights, to wit, my rt.
to free speech and to peaceably assemble under the Bill of Rights, 1 st
Amendment. This right is further
documented in DOD Directive 1325.6
section 3, parts A and F. I feel also
that this charge is false in that it is
being used merely to intimidate me.
"I demand therefore, as adequate
redress, that this charged be dropped
for the reasons stated above... I am
filing this redress under my rights
guaranteed in the UCMJ, Art. 138."
Obviously, the Base legal dep't
needed a little education on its own
UCMJ.
Mike, his wife, and another member of MDM then met with civilian
lawyers through the military law panel in Los Angeles. A few days later,
all charges we.re dropped.
The fact that the Navy clearly had
no basis for these absurd charges from
the beginning leads to only one possible motive behind such legalistic
fumblings. This motive stems from
the facist-like mentality of the U.S.
Military, and is reflected by a blatant disregard for often the most
damental human and Constitutional
rights.
(continued on back page)
MIDWAY SAILERS JUMP SHIP
SEE STORY P.6